The seasonally adjusted Arizona unemployment rate decreased to 3.4% in April 2023 from 3.5% in March 2023.
More than 60,000 Arizonans found work over the last 12 months, bringing the unemployment rate down by 0.1%. This change follows the national unemployment rate, which also decreased from 3.5% to 3.4% in April.
Arizona’s seasonally adjusted labor force has increased by 1.8% this past year or by 63,628 individuals. This April’s unemployment rate is 0.2 percentage points lower than in April 2022, when unemployment was at 3.6%.
Arizona employment increased by 13,800 jobs in April when not adjusted for seasonal employment. This is a larger net gain than pre-pandemic rates, which averaged 9,500 new jobs each April.
A large portion of this change comes from an increase in government jobs. Pre-pandemic, an average of 900 people were publicly employed each April. In 2023, the government sector gained 3,500 employees in Arizona alone.